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Sub Rosa

Chapter Four

Time To Dance

“Wufei!” I screamed again, backing my men a little more. I didn't know fear could still push me like this, but it was demanding I do something and when I let it take over it just said to hell with the bullets decimating everything and made me move.

We had packed everything humanly possible. Along with armor-piercing rounds, everyone here was equipped with MP-40's, for God's sake. And each of us had three grenades, to be used with extraordinary caution and only when absolutely necessary.

Wufei was hurt. It was necessary.

I chucked in one of them. The place blew like a furnace. From the link, I heard an echoing blast. Sounded like someone else thought it was about time we used a grenade or two. “Wufei, say something now.”

I counted four consecutive heartbeats before finally, “I'm here.”

He sounded like shit.

“I'm coming over,” I told him, and ran through while the smoke still settled across the room. “Keep the stairway door open,” I ordered. The room inside was unlit and dark as hell. Cyborgs may have night vision, but humans didn't. We were at an immediate disadvantage.

Heero's doing again.

A couple of my group coughed as they joined me, but blondie – fuck, Neil – was right beside me searching through the dust, same as I was. We both shot down the first creeper to try to rise from the debris.

“Take care of the rest, Callig,” I ordered. “I'm going over to Agent Chang.”

The guy nodded. “Roger that. Take care on your way, and you make sure you come back.”

“I know.” I slunk off to the side, carefully watching the cyborgs as several of them stood. They were strange – some looked like metal skeletons while others looked almost fully human. There was one that was standing that had what looked to be synthetic skin flapping like charred masks, revealing the metal underneath. My mind flashed an image of Heero like that. I blanked it out before the bile in my throat could escape again.

I had to shoot down a hand of all things – what is this, the living version of Zombie Nation? - before I made it over through the lobby that stood at mid-way before I saw a small group of cyborgs facing off with a flamethrower against Wufei's troop. It took all of one second for me to see that Wufei was not among them.

“Shit.” He was definitely injured, and bad, if he wasn't even on the battlefield anymore.

“You should give up, too.”

I couldn't help the quick, surprised gasp of pain at hearing that voice. I clutched my chest and turned with wide eyes. Behind me – how had I missed it? How had I not sensed it? - was Heero, leaning against a wall with a gun pointed straight at my chest. I felt my heart thump, one hard, painful beat, just like it had the last time I'd seen him.

Not him. Just his body.

Yet I couldn't deny that that body was definitely his.

“Heero.”

The name slid out without my permission. A name that cursed me. I heard that word and felt more pain than I ever could have imagined. I'd thought I was ready to look into that face again, to see those Prussian-blue eyes, to watch that hair of his swing in some nameless breeze. To look at those lips, up in that gentle, know-it-all smirk. I'd thought I was ready to pretend I didn't care anymore.

“Are you still waiting?”

It took me a moment to realize he was referencing my last words to him, my promise to always wait for him. I breathed in deeply and held it. “Always.” And I lifted my own gun. He let me; he had to know he could dodge it. The bastard was impossible.

“I will inform my master.”

The fury was there, right there, just waiting to bubble up. “You here to take me alive again?”

“Unfortunately, we cannot get the other. He has been taken down and is losing too much blood. It must be difficult to be mortal.”

I could feel each heartbeat, the next more painful than the last. His eyes were so dead and empty. So cold. I felt the pain of tears again and had to fight them back. “Yeah,” I admitted. “It's really hard. Look, Heero, do we have to fight?”

“No.” He stood straight, pulling himself away from the wall. “You can surrender.”

Another deep breath. I had to calm down and focus. This was not Heero. Not anymore. “See, Heero, a couple of months ago...” But I couldn't mention the promise he'd made. Not to a different man. I couldn't say to this stranger that he'd sworn to return to me. “A couple of months ago,” I tried again, “what you'd wanted had been a lot different. And the you back then was one I cared a great deal for. So I'm going to get what you wanted for you, since you can't get it yourself anymore.”

“Did you love me, Duo Maxwell?”

My hand twitched.

He shot the gun out of my hand, lunged forward. I dodged to the side, catching myself against the wall and pushing myself off as he swung a kick at my face. I pulled out my MP-40 and aimed it.

Don't hesitate.

I didn't let myself think about it. I just pulled the trigger. Heero flew back, somersaulting like he'd taken lessons from Trowa. A quick roll to the side had him dodging my next attack. I pulled out another grenade and watched him raise his gun again.

I ripped out the eyepiece and threw it. “Sorry, Heero.”

A bullet grazed my head just as the world around me exploded.

<*>

“Duo! Duo, dammit!”

I groaned. Wufei's voice was coming from the communication link. He sounded pretty pissed off. And absolutely horrified, to boot. “How long?” I asked. My head was ringing like a bitch, and my face and arms burned. I remembered doing something really stupid, something like setting off a grenade right in front of my own face. I opened my eyes.

“Only about a minute.”

My breath stuttered horribly as I made out Heero's unmistakable form. Oh yeah. How had I forgotten? The man was immortal.

“Come with me.”

Heero's hand reached out for me. Without thinking, I slapped it away. “No!” I snapped. “You aren't Heero – I'm not going with you!”

Heero... Heero's body-snatching cyborg stood. “Then I must injure you.” I was already injured. Idiot. “Prepare yourself.”

I scowled. “The real Heero would have already done something by now, you coward.”

“Understood.” He raised his gun up again, this time pointing it at my leg. I moved to push myself up and bit back a scream. Shit. The burns hurt. “Owari da,” (1) he whispered, words spoken in a language I couldn't understand.

“Not yet,” I sneered, standing in defiance of that gun and wondering if I'd given a correct enough response. “Not until I finish what I have to finish. You got that, Yuy?!” I flipped up onto my hand, ignoring the pain, and backflipped into the hallway. I didn't see any cyborgs on either side of my peripheral vision. I took the chance and ran off toward Wufei's side. “I need cover fire!” I shouted, as loud as possible. My communication link had probably been fried in some way – it was making creepy crackling noises that made me just take it off and break it – but I heard a small chorus of “roger that”s and rolled down just as bullets ripped all around me. I listened carefully, just to be certain. A whirring sounded, then only the gunshots. “Enough!”

That was right. Heero had showed up from out of nowhere. He'd used some sort of passageway that we didn't know about. And if there was a passageway we hadn't covered, that meant there was an escape route.

We had to hurry.

I hardly took the time to look at my own wounds; I was burned all over my arms and my face and had blood trickling down the side of my face. Heero, the bastard, hadn't looked much the worse for wear. Seemed the cyborg look was better than I'd thought.

I would not be happy about that.

I ran to the stairwell then, slipping past three guards. “Wufei? Wufei!”

He was resting against the wall, hand pressed against his side. He looked up at me when I entered and gave me a partly-sheepish, mostly-frustrated look. His shirt was off, showing off burns that were blistering much worse than mine. A couple of places looked almost third-degree. But his side was what had been shot, and the makeshift bandages were bloody.

“So you wanted to look like me, huh?” I said playfully, squatting down beside him.

“Hardly, Maxwell.” He looked me over. “Are you all right?”

“I,” I said haughtily, “can still walk. Got any commentary for that one?”

“Yeah. It's a first.”

I stuck out my tongue at him.

“I heard... Yuy's voice.”

“Yeah. He disappeared from the lobby.”

Wufei frowned and struggled to stand. Understanding, I lent him an arm. When he was standing, I led him forward. My MP-40 was almost melted in my hand. Wufei ordered one of the others to hand me their weapon and handed out orders. We needed the guards at the stairwells to remain where they were, but we told them to get in touch with us every five minutes on the dot with full permission to shoot off whenever they feel the need. He also told the rest of my squad to meet up with us in the lobby.

It was a ridiculous trip through the halls and past the labs. The rooms were all empty, exact echoes of the fourth floor. But the halls in which all of the enemy forces had stood were beyond dirty and littered. It would be impossible to explain to a non-veteran. Pieces of body fat lay dripping in blood and – this sounds so lame – oil. Not oil, precisely, but the grease that helps the gears of a mechanical body move. The puddles were dangerous because of the computer chips and loose wiring that fell limply into each one. The bodies were our walkway, and only the rubber synthetically-covered parts. Fingers sat in puddles. Legs were wrenched either to impossible angles or were lying lonely without the rest of the body to lie with them. Each charred face revealed a science fiction depiction of cursed mummies. To get to the lobby was to pass through a small circle of hell.

But when we did finally arrive in that room, it was as dark as the hallway and barren. I remembered the whooshing sound and thought about the sealed room off the first floor stairway. “It's a hidden door,” I said grimly. “Spread out and search, everyone. Don't have two people searching the same stretch of the wall. When you find it, tell Wufei or myself immediately.”

<*>

“Sirs, I think I found it.”

It was absolutely no surprise to me whatsoever that it was blondie who was pointing to the wall. Wufei and I stood on each side of him and studied the wall. Sure enough, a secret hatch was just sitting there, flat against the wall, waiting for someone to open it. I took a deep breath. “This is a dangerous route. We can't all use it.”

Wufei glared at me. “Absolutely not.”

“I'm not going alone,” I huffed. “Bl... Callig will accompany me, and you can pick up to two other people.”

“I'm going with you,” he hissed.

“Don't be ridiculous. You're injured. Besides,” I continued quickly, knowing how those words would get him spitting like a cobra, “I need someone who can back me up.”

Wufei hesitated.

“You're here, Chang, not hours away on a train protecting an invalid.” Yeah, I didn't want to think about how it was all my fault. I'd fallen quite well into mission-mode, thank you, and I didn't want to fall back out. “I need back-up.”

Finally Wufei nodded. “I understand. But you come out alive, Maxwell.”

I didn't bother telling him that if I did, it would be borrowed time, anyway. “Fine. You, too.”

He looked like he was hiding a good piece of information from me, too. A piece of information that probably echoed my own. Damn honor code. “Fine,” he responded.

Blondie looked like he really wanted to say something, but somehow he seemed to get the hint that two upset veterans with guns shouldn't be annoyed.

<*>

The small whoosh opened us up into a pretty spacious little elevator. I frowned at it; elevators weren't even remotely safe. Before we went anywhere, I had Wufei's two bodyguards – two big, hulking monsters with extra ammo strapped to their chests just to make doubly sure they looked terrifying – hold the door open while I checked for bombs and explosives both inside and outside the box. Every second told me we were losing them, but we couldn't wait.

Finally I was satisfied and we were moving up. No sooner had the cables begun working than Wufei got in touch with the other three's communication links.

“Maxwell! Back-up one and back-up two both confirmed three helicopters moving in. There is also movement on the roof. I repeat, three helicopters and movement on the roof – dammit, Maxwell, they're running.”

“Of course their running. Fucking chicken-shit giraffe-neck.” I double-checked my gun and refused to think about how I'd aimed it at Heero. I would have to do it again.

“His name is Holden Landsing,” Callig said.

“Holden? Isn't that supposed to be a jock's name?” I snorted. My gun was ready. Much more ready than me.

“Go figure.” Neil shrugged.

“I thought Holden was more a soap opera name,” one of the Beef Twins piped up.

“Not exactly the best name for a geek, anyway,” I muttered, thinking I could potentially be called a geek. I winced at that.

“Feeling all right, sir?” Bl – dammit, Neil – asked.

“Fine. Look, keep your eyes open, people. We're sitting ducks here. Hey,” I called, “Wufei. In position yet?”

“ETA in thirty seconds.”

“Good. We should arrive around then, too.”

“The helicopters have landed.”

I'd already confirmed that with my ears. The loud little buggers were chopping the air above us. I got the nasty feeling this elevator was going straight up to the roof, no 'last floor' bullshit. We'd be walking straight onto a battlefield. “Get ready,” I told everyone. “We're about to enter round three.”

Each clicked their Glocks in unison. Feds. Neil and I went first up onto the roof of the elevator, and the Hulks followed somewhat clumsily after us.

The elevator was silent when it lolled to a stop. Five perfunctory bullets split the metal doors. The Hulks, blondie and I dropped down from the outside of the box then and hunkered low until the doors opened. Callig helpfully threw a bomb as soon as the doors began opening. There was a shout, a girlish scream – had to be Giraffe-neck – and the inevitable explosion. We all braced ourselves and jumped out even as a helicopter bounced slightly in the flames.

One down.

Heero had pulled Giraffe-neck to safety and was right now pulling him back up and behind him. I hissed at the sight, but I didn't hesitate. The Hulks and blondie raised their guns, too, and fired.

They weren't the only two here; there were two more scientists and four more cyborgs, each as human-looking as Heero. I was sure that, for now, these were the five 'Gundam pilots' that Giraffe-neck was using as his main defense. The other four cyborgs were pulling out their own weapons – unlike the defects, they didn't have weapons in their bodies – and firing at us, protecting the other two scientists until they were safely on-board the helicopter. Then they laid cover fire for Heero and Dickhead... Giraffe-neck.

The cover space was limited and they had a burning wreckage of a helicopter to hide behind. One of the Hulks took a hit to the arm and lost his weapon.

And goddammit but every time we went for a grenade, Heero Yuy shot the fucking thing into the sky. We stopped pulling them out after the third one almost got blondie in the blast.

We couldn't help it; when Wufei's team popped up and began firing, they dove into the helicopter – they being three cyborgs and Giraffe-neck. Heero and one other cyborg stayed behind, shooting down Wufei's grenade when he tried to sail it at the helicopter.

The choppers churned up dust and debris and began lifting and there was absolutely nothing we could do to stop it. Heero was risking his life for that skinny, slimy little bastard and I had to fucking kill him.

Giraffe-neck waved good-bye.

“Heero!” I screamed over the roar of the choppers. He looked right at me, those beautiful eyes blank, and shot at me once again. I had no choice but to roll and let Wufei and his team send cover fire.

“Fire a tracking device,” Neil said from beside me, snapping the directions into the link. I didn't hear the affirmative, but Neil nodded and shot at Heero two more times. Heero kept dodging, just barely, but with that same incredible speed and agility as before.

“Neil,” I snapped, “aim for him. Hulks!” I called, and oddly enough both turned to me, “Aim for his left. I've got his right. Ready?”

“Aim!” We each lifted our guns in unison. I saw understanding flash in his eyes and wished I couldn't pretend to see my Heero in there, looking at me with such sorrow that I felt my heart seize its beating.

I would be killing myself right here, in this moment. Right now. I accepted that as the only thing I could do. And for this, I would make certain my death was slow.

“Fire!”

<*>

Notes:

1. Owari da = This is the end, roughly translated.

Also, though I know this just might shock you: I know nothing about weapons. I know practically nothing about science fiction. And I'm not exactly a nurse. Practically everything I write is made up and probably bordering clichés. I apologize, but that's about how I roll. Hope everyone enjoyed! ^_^